1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to closure applicators. Specifically, the present invention relates to closure applicators for container blanks.
2. Description of the Related Art
Containers such as gable top cartons and the ubiquitous TETRA BRIK.RTM. parallelepiped package have always been popular as containers for liquid foods such as milk, orange juice and the like. Recently, the use of closures, or fitments, to access the contents has become very appealing to consumers due the resealability and tamper-proof features.
Numerous applicators have been invented that apply a closure/fitment to an erected carton or a completely formed, filled, and sealed carton. For example, a very efficient process for applying a fitment through a pre-cut hole in an erected carton is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,819,504. Other applicators apply the fitment to a filled and sealed carton through use of hot melt. The packaging industry has created numerous applicators for applying a fitment to an erected carton or sealed carton, yet the industry has failed to provide a process or apparatus for applying a closure/fitment at an infeed to a packaging machine.
The failure to resolve this problem restricts application of closures/fitments to the form, fill and seal machine through either integrated machinery or machine in-line with the packaging machine. Also, current integrated fitment applicator machines require the use, or act in concert with mandrels on a packaging machine.